


heart of darkness (request)

by redbirb



Series: Tumblr Requests 2020 [13]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Age Swap, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Batkids Age Reversal, Canon-Typical Violence, Damian Wayne is Nightwing, Feelings, Heavy Angst, Implied Relationships, Jason Todd is Robin, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, Other, Robin Age Reversal, Robin Reversal AU, Robin reversal, Tim Drake is Red Hood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:54:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27619343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redbirb/pseuds/redbirb
Summary: “Forgive me or don’t,” murmurs the man, voice a quiet woe,” but you’re just a pawn to be played. No harm will come to you.”
Relationships: Tim Drake/Damian Wayne, Tim Drake/Jason Todd, implied relationships - Relationship
Series: Tumblr Requests 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971637
Comments: 22
Kudos: 133





	heart of darkness (request)

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request I got on tumblr from an anon : " _If you still accept requests.... Here a request: Please a Dark Tim kidnaps Robin Jay/Red Hood. I guess one-sided Jaytim?_ "
> 
> I went with Robin Age Reversal, something I've always wanted to write. I would LOVE to explore this more, make a series and notes on differences between canon and age reversal. Maybe soon...

Jason likes being Robin.

He’s a hero, has a purpose beyond school and being a good kid. He’s growing bigger, taller, more comfortable in his own skin. The day is dedicated to being Jason Todd, but at night when the moon watches over the city, he’s Robin, Boy Wonder.

Damian had been cold to him at first, his own brand of concern coming out in anger.

“He’s just a kid!”

“You were younger when you started out,” Bruce had said. “This will be good for him, just as it had been for you.”

“You would do this after…” A glaring contest that Jason had stood frozen for until Damian turned on a heel and left the cave.

A week later he had shown up again, stiff politeness giving way to gentle smiles and mild bickering. Damian became more and more like a brother, someone Jason could talk to when he was having a fight with Bruce or his focus started dropping in school. Training sessions spilled into movie nights and staying for dinner more often.

Somehow Jason’s presence was healing a gap that had formed between father and son, between Bruce and Damian. He thought things were going well, that life couldn’t be better.

How naive Jason had been.

Because spinning insidious plans was an old ally left to rot.

\---

Robin is patrolling, gliding through the air with ease, hopping from rooftop to rooftop. His lungs burn from the chill air, cheeks pinked as the winds wash over him as he moves.

Nightwing isn’t far behind him, keeping an eye out for potential trouble. It’s a quiet night, no suspicious persons hanging around dark street corners or in-progress bank robberies. Jason is bored, doing front flips as Damian chases from behind.

“Can’t catch me -”

He collides with something hard, voice cutting off by a gasp and he’s pulled off course, fall cushioned by a body. Before he can orient himself, there’s a pinch along his neck, vision blurring then dark as he loses consciousness. It’s quick and efficient, a practiced attack.

Before he falls into darkness, he hears Damian shout,” _**Timothy!**_ ”

\---

He wakes up on an old cot, a frayed fleece blanket draped over him. When he sits up there’s a tug on his leg, a chain keeping him tied to the bedpost. Everything is hazy for a long, scary moment then his vision clears and he can look around the dimly lit room : a sputtering radiator in the corner, a bucket near the bed, a chair by a boarded up window.

It becomes very clear he’s been kidnapped.

The sound of boots and a door opens, revealing a slim figure carrying a tray with food and a water bottle. “Ah, you’re awake already. You’re very resilient.”

The man, a little older than Jason, is pale with black long hair tied in a messy short bun, eyes a dark set of blue that stuns him into silence for a long moment. His expression is set in a neutral state, but Jason can tell it is forced by the tightness around the corners of the mouth.

“Let me go,” he says shakily, trying to muster up his courage,” or ya gonna regret it.”

A pause. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

That doesn’t ease Jason in the slightest. “Then what… what _do_ ya want?”

He doesn’t get an answer, not at first, shifting away and eyeing the tray warily when it’s placed on the bed within reach. The figure, man, doesn’t stray too close, immediately walking towards the chair to slump into instead. Jason knows better than to touch the food or drink.

“Forgive me or don’t,” murmurs the man, voice a quiet woe,” but you’re just a pawn to be played. No harm will come to you.”

“S’ya want to hurt Batman? Think yer a big tough guy, huh? Tryin’ to be the next _Joker_?”

A hand morphs into a fist, striking the wall. “Don’t compare me to that **filth**.”

At the sudden spark of emotion, Jason goes still and falls quiet. Something isn’t being told here and he can feel it in his bones that he may be in more trouble than he realizes.

“I’m here to settle a debt. An eye for an eye.”

“Who… who are ya? I heard… I heard him call ya Timothy.”

A bitter smile, one carved from pain. “They didn’t tell you about me? What a shame. It’s a tragic story really.”

“Stop playin’ mind games and just tell me,” a hiss, patience gone.

“I was you once,” a choked laugh. “I was the Robin **before** you.”

Jason’s world flips as his heart plummets. _The Robin before me?_

\---

It takes three hours for Jason to cave. He eats what he’s handed and he drinks the unopened bottled water with a sigh of relief. Waiting has never been a part of his skillset, but he’s forced to while chained to the bed, hoping his captor will grace him with some conversation from time to time.

He mostly does the talking, says things he probably shouldn’t, sharing information this Timothy might already know. He cracks jokes in hopes of getting a reaction, but he gets nothing other than demure orders to behave and eat, and wait. It’s a maddeningly dull routine, pondering when someone will find him, if he’ll be let go, if being spared is truly on the agenda.

“What happened,” he dares to ask. “Why ain’t ya Robin no more? Why are ya mad at them.”

“... long story, kid.”

He flushes, kicking his foot against the bed railing. “M’not a kid! I could help ya, whatever happened I know they didn’t mean it!”

“Your heroes have no flaws? You are blinded, Jason,” and the chill that runs down his spine at the use of his name is beyond description. It drills into his spine, digging under his skin in a way that is both terrifying and fascinating. “And _that_ is what gets you _hurt_.”

\---

Three days of crumbs, lapping up any scraps of information he’s thrown.

Tim was Robin. Something horrible happened. Tim was hurt. Tim was abandoned.

Jason catches glimpses of scars when the collar of a too-big shirt falls slightly down a shoulder. He wants to ask, wants to know, _why and why and why?_

“I can help ya,” he says, desperate to make things right. He doesn’t think Timothy is a villain, he’s just a tortured man with something to prove. “Let me help ya.”

“You are,” he’s assured each time. The conviction in his voice is alluring in a way Jason hasn’t encountered before. “Once everything is in place. It won’t be long now.”

And Jason waits.

\---

Things don’t go to plan apparently.

Timothy comes back to the hideout wounded, clutching an arm still in costume. Jason likes the black and red combo, but now he’s frightened that he can’t tell what’s blood and what’s fabric. He attempts to reach for him, tugged back by the chain around his ankle.

“Let me help ya!”

“Time’s up,” a declaration, devoid of joy. “Looks like you’re going home early.”

Jason knows exactly what he means when Damian comes bursting through like a raging bull, the wooden door slamming hard enough to splinter around the hinges. His teeth are bared in a snarl, the escrima sticks held tightly in each fist. He glows with a righteous fury, wrapped up in the blue and black of the Nightwing suit, ready to strike with the might of a titan.

“You’ve gone too far, Timothy,” he growls. “You’ve sunk lower than I ever thought you could.”

A retaliating snort of, “You didn’t have that high an opinion to begin with.”

“You kidnapped a child. Teaming with rogues that have caused destruction throughout the city. Aligning yourself with the likes of my _grandfather_.”

“I didn’t ask for his help,” Timothy is quick to snap. “I didn’t ask to be reborn! _You abandoned me_!”

A softening expression, Damian’s hands lowering just a fraction. “I never wanted you to…”

“You _wished_ it upon me. Sneered it into my face. You were glad I was **dead**.”

“No!” Damian spares Jason a glance, grimacing. “I never wanted this.”

“You and Bruce - you buried me and that was that. You wanted me gone and you got what you wanted.”

“This is between us then, Jason had nothing to do with what happened.”

“You’re wrong,” a laugh, gutted and pained,” stupidly wrong. You thought you could forget me, did you? You wanted that second chance so you could throw me away. How does it taste, Damian? How does it feel to be torn apart?”

Turmoil clouds Damian’s expression. “I -”

“What would he think of you if he knew,” a thumb jabbed in Jason’s direction, sitting there, bewildered, as he watches the scene unfold,” that you left me to rot.”

“I wanted you to stay put! You didn’t listen, you never listened!” Words punctured by frustrated sorrow, spilling like tears from desperate lips. A lunge forward, a body pinned to the wall as anger bleeds into pleading. “You were supposed to come _home_.”

And Jason can barely see it, but a wet mark appears on Damian’s cheek, its source from under his mask. He’s trembling, a shaking fist rooted in a torn collar.

“I did,” a whisper. “And I found _him_ where I once stood.”

Jason sees it first, a hand coming up out of a jacket pocket, the flash of electricity that warns before it strikes. He opens his mouth, but it’s too late.

A taser is jabbed into Damian’s side, shocking him out of his aggressive position, falling onto his knees and curling into himself. Timothy is quick to sidestep him, staring down with a coldness that could rival Mr. Freeze.

“You can replace me, but I won’t let you forget me.”

He looks at Jason then, contemplative. He throws something in the direction of the bed, landing a few inches from the current Robin’s knees. Without another glance, the kidnapper flees, leaving them behind. When Jason looks down at the sheets he finds a key resting there.

He fumbles to undo the chain, scrambling across the floor on hands and knees to get to Damian’s hunched form. Arms tug him into a tight embrace when he reaches there, tears spilling from both their eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Damian is mumbling into his hair, over and over again.

Jason is grateful for the relief that floods him, able to finally breathe in some familiarity he’s comfortable with. The game is over for now, for as long as Timothy stays away.

Jason has hope that it won’t be for long. He has something to prove to the beautiful man.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! :) I'm currently working on and taking requests over on my [tumblr](https://rainbowredrobin.tumblr.com/). Follow me for sneak peaks to chapters and other writing stuff. Feel free to ask me questions or tell me what you think!
> 
>  **I am accepting fic requests until Nov. 20th 2020!** You can find the post explaining how it works [HERE](https://rainbowredrobin.tumblr.com/post/629633548447612928/requests-are-open-for-an-undetermined-amount-of).


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